For my professional practice assignment we were asked to look into branding, marketing strategy, social media presence, research into different types of insurance and assist photographers. By doing this project it has taught me a huge amount about the industry of photography, in particular fashion and portrait photography. It has also taught me a lot about myself as a photographer and has helped me reflect on the type of photographer I want to be.

At the beginning of the project I was looking solely into fashion photography but as I have worked on this project I have managed to expand my knowledge revolving around the industry. Using advice given to me by David Ellis during my portfolio review I have changed my opinion on the type of photographer I want to be. Now I want to be a fashion and portrait photographer. I decided this because I have become the most interested in these two subjects, they inspire me, creating the most intrigue for photography. The thing I found hardest about this project was coming up with my branding. I came up with questions like; how do I want to brand myself? How can I further my career with my branding?, and, what do I want my name to be? I knew that Branding was a very important aspect of selling yourself as a photographer. I needed my branding to be perfect, this made it difficult for me to settle on one final idea. This is why when you look through my professional practice, though I have finalised ideas for logo, name, business cards, domain name, website and email address I have not bought any of them because I want them to be exemplary. So saying this after this project I am going to continue looking at how I want to brand myself and continue to get opinions from people so that I can find my perfect brand.

Looking back at my Professional activity I am really pleased with how I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and contacted various photographers to then be contacted back from Holly McGlynn saying she would be happy for me to assist her. I enjoyed this experience and I learnt a lot from it. I became thrilled when Holly then contacted me asking if I would assist her again. Though both days were very different I enjoyed both. On each day I learnt new things about the industry but also new equipment and lighting techniques. Alongside assisting Holly I also assisted a third year student three times, I always enjoy assisting the third years as I can see the project they are working on and how they are developing their skills ready for leaving university at the end of the year. I also like how there is no pressure on me, I can learn for the shoot without any added stress. After achieving my goals of pushing myself out of my comfort zone I was then very pleased to be contacted by a graphic design fashion student asking to collaborate with them and take pictures of a garment a fashion student made, though I was very worried about the experience as there was lot that could go wrong and this time the pressure would be on me, I pushed myself again and I am glad I did as I had a great time on the shoot and the images look amazing.

Alongside the branding and the professional activity I also had to refine my social media pages, research into various types of insurance and write the first part of the PDP. I found all this information very useful as not only did I learn a lot about myself and the industry I began to really think about my goals and where I want to be in photography and in five years. By the lectures getting me to do this it pushes me to start considering my future and research the industry I plan to go into so that when I leave university I am not confused about how to move forward.

To conclude, this assignment has really given me the chance to think about the future and push me out of my comfort zone and experience new things like assisting a photographer in the industry and collaborate with other students. I have learnt so much for this project and I hope that when I leave university I will now have a clear branding and marketing strategy as I will continue to work and build them over the next two years to really have a solid start to my career as a fashion and portrait photographer.

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